Study: Moms watch more TV, do less housework

By Anika Myers PalmOrlando Sentinel

CaptionJenna Elfman, 'Accidentally on Purpose'

CBS

Alas, "Accidentally on Purpose" is no longer with us -- but it was a surprisingly funny look at single motherhood, with Elfman's character, Billie, being amazingly tolerant of the antics and friends of Zack (Jon Foster), the younger man who became a father-to-be after a one-night stand. It also got us thinking about our favorite (non-reality) portrayals of single motherhood on television. -- Lisa Todorovich, Zap2it

Alas, "Accidentally on Purpose" is no longer with us -- but it was a surprisingly funny look at single motherhood, with Elfman's character, Billie, being amazingly tolerant of the antics and friends of Zack (Jon Foster), the younger man who became a father-to-be after a one-night stand. It also got us thinking about our favorite (non-reality) portrayals of single motherhood on television. -- Lisa Todorovich, Zap2it (CBS)

Lorelai Gilmore showed us in abundance that it's possible for single motherhood to have no relationship whatsoever to wearing mom jeans and driving carpool. With an enviably close relationship with her teenage daughter, a Rosalind-Russell-as-Hildy-Johnson conversational style, a massive tolerance for caffeine and a relationship with her parents that doesn't even begin to be described by the word "difficult," she created a vivid picture of the complexities - and fun - of parenthood after the "After School Special" where the teenage girl decides to keep her baby.

Lorelai Gilmore showed us in abundance that it's possible for single motherhood to have no relationship whatsoever to wearing mom jeans and driving carpool. With an enviably close relationship with her teenage daughter, a Rosalind-Russell-as-Hildy-Johnson conversational style, a massive tolerance for caffeine and a relationship with her parents that doesn't even begin to be described by the word "difficult," she created a vivid picture of the complexities - and fun - of parenthood after the "After School Special" where the teenage girl decides to keep her baby. (The WB)

The study of moms from 1965 to 2010 indicated that today's moms are more sedentary -- so much so that they spend more time watching television and involved in leisure activities on their computers and tablets than they do on cooking, cleaning and exercising combined, according to a Science Daily report on the research from the University of South Carolina's Arnold School of Public Health.

"With each passing generation, mothers have become increasingly physically inactive, sedentary, and obese, thereby potentially predisposing children to an increased risk of inactivity, adiposity, and chronic non-communicable diseases," said Arnold School exercise scientist and epidemiologist Edward Archer wrote in the report.

Moms with younger children performed 14 fewer hours per week of physical activity in 2010 than they did in 1965. That means the modern moms burned 225 fewer calories each day.

Moms of older kids performed 11 fewer hours per week of physical activity in 2010 than in 1965, meaning that today's moms would need to eat 175 to 225 fewer calories per day to maintain their weight than 1965 moms.

Fear. Convenience. Emergency. All are among the reasons why some celeb moms' babies are born via C-section. And it's not just Hollywood moms: The rate of caesarean sections are rising worldwide -- surpassing recommendations by the World Health Organization that C-sections make up less than 15%...